


Learning to Bend

by TruebornAlpha



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Bending (Avatar), Friendship/Love, M/M, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12427320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TruebornAlpha/pseuds/TruebornAlpha
Summary: Avatar Keith struggles to master airbending against his own crushing insecurities. Luckily, he has someone who can help. A Sheith ATLA AU!





	Learning to Bend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [howlittleweare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/howlittleweare/gifts).



> This fic is dedicated as a thank you to [howlittleweare](http://howlittleweare.tumblr.com) for being such a great friend! :D

The ground felt solid beneath his feet and he could feel the breeze against his cheek, but Keith knew that none of this could possibly be real. The sky boiled above him, misty clouds in reds and swirling blacks as they responded to his emotions. The Spirit World reflected the mortal world, shaping itself based on his feelings instead of on rational logic. Keith always felt out of his element here. Wasn’t that ironic?

It was only a generation ago that the barriers between the spirits and the mortals had been solid walls before the great Avatar Korra had torn them open and let both sides spill together into a new balance. After so many decades, it had become a new normal. Keith had never known a world where spirits didn’t race across telephone lines or play pranks when no one was looking. Having them invade his dreams was a new experience, but one that had been happening more often.

Ever since he’d been named as the Avatar.

It was an honor, he knew that. It came with power and respect, but more than that, it got him out of the orphanage and whisked away from everything he knew. Suddenly, he wasn’t the unwanted nobody anymore, he was the Avatar, and everyone wanted a piece of him. They wanted to train him, use him, beg for his help when he barely even knew how to help himself. It was overwhelming. Especially when he couldn’t even escape them in his dreams.

The wind rushed, surrounding him in a maelstrom of rain and dust. It roared with its own strength, a ghastly howl, and no, not again, not this. Keith tried to retreat, but his feet were bound, twisted in metal and rock. Somewhere Avatar Korra had a home here, beyond the little human towns that hid in the folded branches of spirit trees, sometimes Governor Sato still visited. It couldn’t be home to him. All Keith knew was fear. Fire bloomed at his hands and he snarled, blasting his way through the storm only to be thrown on his back, electricity crackling in the air.

_Give it up, boy. The Avatar was meant to unite both worlds. You are an embarrassment to her legacy._

There was rumbling laughter like thunder but made vicious with determination. Keith attacked blindly, the ground shooting up beneath him, then he was running, running, but the storm blew thicker. Another blast of electricity cut through the air, tearing through his body.

He screamed, curling into himself as the power burned through him. Keith could almost feel the laughter as it echoed around him everywhere at once as the spirit pulled the mist together and shaped into a human form. An almost human form. The creature was taller, lean and well-muscled. Its skin was lavender and its eyes a hungry yellow. Pure white hair flowed around it like it was caught in its own wind that no one else could feel.

_You will never live up to her, you can’t even master the elements. You are a failure._

Keith spat and crawled up to his knees, trying to shield himself from the words that cut like shards of ice.

He fell back on the familiar, calling on his strength as his fists erupted into flame. Fire was always the easiest for him, a constant heat like his blood was already burning. The world was covered in blue.

It hadn’t enough.

Keith bolted upright, a scream caught in his throat as flames licked across his bedside table. With a strangled gasp, he reached to put them out only for a bolt of pain to shoot up his right arm. It was clumsy and heavy, wrapped in so many bandages, Keith wasn’t sure it was still there, and he groaned under his breath before very carefully using his left to extinguish the flames.

For a moment, all he did was listen, waiting for a sign that he’d disturbed anyone, but Air Temple Island was still. Keith exhaled deeply.

Another trip to the Spirit Realm had been interrupted by the vindictive spirit that called itself  _Lotor._ It had been dogging Keith since he’d made the move to Republic City, hounding him in the shadows of the Spirit World.

Keith had barely walked away from their last encounter.

He flopped back on the thin mattress with a groan, smacking his head on the hard stone of the floor. He muffled a curse and cradled his injured arm closer to his chest. Stupid Air Nomads, they had worse beds than even the orphanage did growing up. They all believed that strengthening the spirit meant physical discomfort, why else would they all just sleep on a tiny mattress rolled across the floor?

Keith knew he should be grateful, but with frustration and impatience bubbling inside of himself at his slow progress mastering the elements, it was hard to feel anything but resentment. The ways of the Air Nomads were beautiful, but they were cryptic and difficult. Keith preferred the action and passion of the Fire Benders and the solid power of the Earth Benders. Even the Water Benders made sense, as fluid and changeable as they were. They followed the same rhythms and patterns that he could follow, losing himself in the push and pull of water.

But air was completely intangible, tied to control and spirituality, two things that Keith never grasped. His only consolation was the stories of how Avatar Korra had struggled to master it as well.

 _Any advice?_  He asked grumpily, hoping the voices of his past lives might be able to fix his problems for him, but they seemed just as stubborn as he was. With a sigh, he gave up on sleep and rolled to his feet, holding his injured arm close. He wasn’t going to be able to beat anyone until he could figure out air bending, injured arm or no.

He walked through the temple, torn between tension as the memory of his dream refused to fade and relief that there was no one around to watch him jump at shadows. He found his way to a quiet terrace, high above the temple and overlooking the docks. In the distance, the twinkling lights of Republic City glowed with both spirit energy and the crackle of electricity. It never slept. That hadn’t bothered Keith before, but now it was just giving him something to glare at it.

He turned away from it, took a seat in the center of the terrace, among the artfully carved sun that had been chipped away by an Air Bender’s infallible control. It was a meditation exercise, one that was supposed to help him feel lighter than air. Keith had never mastered it, but they said the first step was always the hardest, right below the second and the third. Patience yields focus. Keith concentrated.

Somewhere above him, a fly was buzzing.

Keith cracked an eye open in annoyance and waved his hand, hoping to drive the insect away. It only seemed to encourage the thing. He ground his teeth together and drew on the power inside of him, waving his good hand again, trying to summon a gust of air to blow the bug away. Nothing happened.

“Gah, go away, go away!!” He snarled, swatting so hard at the bug that he wrenched his injured arm and winced in pain. “Damn it! I could just burn this whole stupid place to the ground and then you’ll see.”

A warm chuckle startled him and Keith rolled to his feet, almost overbalancing. “You’d set fire to the whole air temple just to stop a fly? Seems a little bit like overkill.”

The young man grinned at him as Keith flushed and scowled. He wasn’t a monk, he didn’t have the same shaved head as the other Air Nomads, but the edge of blue tattooed on his head broke through his bangs. “Is there something you want?” Keith snapped.

“Maybe for you not to set fire to the place?”

Keith couldn’t say he knew much about where Takashi Shirogane had come from, or why his loyalty to Lady Jinora ran so deep, or why the soft tufts of his hair had gone a startling white, but he still thought he knew him. From the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, to that deep furrow that sat between his eyebrows when he was about to prove someone wrong, if Keith was honest, he’d been studying him for almost as long as he’d been struggling with air bending. But tonight, seeing him only made Keith’s stomach sink, dread and embarrassment twisting in the worst sort of way.

“Did I wake you?” He asked, frustration almost enough to make him vindictive, but Keith had never been good at being cruel.

Shiro shook his head, dropping into place beside Keith.

“I was already up.”

Keith didn’t know what business Shiro could have so late at night, but he wasn’t in any position to ask.

“You know, if you’re going to try meditating, I could break out the incense?” Keith winced before he could stop himself, and Shiro laughed. He held up one finger, a miniature tornado whirling at its tip in a show of precision and control that made Keith’s stomach clench with envy. “It might help, though  _you_  don’t seem to really have the patience for meditation.”

Keith flushed in embarrassment, his failures evident. He’d been trying so hard to find his center and the peace the monks kept talking about, but sitting still and waiting for something spiritual to happen felt pointless. He was made for action, constant movement and not quiet reflection. It seemed so much like a waste of time, he just didn’t want to be criticized by some good-looking bending in the middle of the night. “I don’t need help.”

“Everybody needs help sometimes.” Shiro said with a shrug. “But it’s up to you. If you don’t want to learn how to airbend…”

“You can teach me?” Keith ground his teeth and swallowed his pride. “The monks have been trying for weeks and they haven’t had much luck. I can’t do this, what makes you think that you could help?”

“Because I know you can do this.” Shiro’s reasoning was so simple that it took Keith by surprise.

“If you say something about patience and focus, I’ll punch you.”

Shiro laughed again. “You think you can?”

It was a harmless little question, just casual enough that if Keith declined, there was a chance Shiro could brush it all off as a joke. Or he could make it worse. Either way, it didn’t matter. Long before he was the Avatar, Keith had always had a problem turning down a challenge.

He got to his feet, sending Shiro a dirty glare that said too much, before falling into a traditional fighting stance. Shiro stood, positioning himself on the other side of the veranda, mimicking Keith’s stance.

“I’m not going to hold back,” Keith warned, fire gleaming at the edge of his fingertips, and the ground beneath his feet coming alive.

“Good.” Shiro smiled. “You’ll need to.”

Keith planted his feet against the temple stones, body falling into the familiar forms of firebending. The flame lept to his call and his blood heated as he ignited the spark within him. It was so easy, an innate talent that he’d wielded since he was young. It was aggressive, direct, a way to get things done. It always made sense.

Fire streaked through the quiet halls of the temple, briefly burning back the night as Keith went to end the fight before it could really begin. Shiro just smiled and waved one hand, body whirling in graceful circles as a blast of wind caught the fire bolt and directed it harmlessly into the wall. Before Keith could recover, another gust caught him and lifted him from his feet to send him spinning across the floor.

Shiro hadn’t even broken a sweat, damn him.

“I thought you said you weren’t holding back?” He teased as Keith snarled, rolling to his feet as he left burning footprints to scorch the cool stone.

Shiro moved like a storm, barely restrained power and never still. No matter how Keith tried, he couldn’t so much as land a hit. “Hold still!”

Keith pounded his feet into the ground, sending a firm column of stone into the air, but when Keith pushed, the column sliced into discs. They flew straight at Shiro, chasing him as the Air Bender raced past, his feet never really touching the ground and always just a step out of reach. Keith tried to match him, but even as rings of fire cut through the air, they were uneven and unstable, spinning out of control just as often as not. Keith was too slow, too clumsy, too  _weak._

This time Shiro held still.

When Keith moved in for the attack, Shiro did as well. He landed a punch with all the power of a hailstorm behind it, and when Keith raised his hands to block it, he screamed. He was thrown across the veranda, skidding across the uneven floor before he could catch himself. Heat pooled in the back of his eyes, his muscles trembling under the strain, but he pushed himself to his knees and pretended that wasn’t as far as he could go.

“Again.” Keith rasped. He got a foot under himself, swayed, but stayed firm. “I’m ready.”

“Keith-“

“I’m  _ready_.”

“The monks tell you that airbending is about balance and patience.” Shiro said, falling back into a defensive position to lure Keith closer. It worked like a charm, the Avatar launching himself at Shiro in a flurry of flaming punches. But Shiro was suddenly beside him on the side of his injured arm, so fast that Keith hadn’t seen him move. A gust of wind snaked around Keith’s feet and tripped him. “You think you’re too full of fury to find that spiritual center.”

“I just can’t, okay?” Keith spat as he pulled himself off his bruised knees. “I’m not like you! Whatever stupid patience or focus thing you have inside of you, I just don’t have it.” The anger and frustration welled inside of him as hot as any burst of flame. He was tired and his arm hurt, energy already failing. He’d failed again, just like he always had. He’d never been good enough for anyone else when he was just an orphan, what could have made him think anything would be different now that he was the Avatar?

“You really think you don’t?” Shiro was infuriatingly good at just asking questions and Keith glared, gesturing to his wrapped arm.

“Where do you think I got this? I can’t even use my arm, I’m useless. It’s not a fair fight.”

Shiro frowned.

“Airbending is about adapting, Keith. At its core, it’s about freedom.” He shifted, reaching into his sleeve to unhook the leather straps that held his prosthetic strapped to his body. With a click of metal buckles, he let his prosthetic arm drop to the ground as Keith looked on in stunned surprise. “Still an unfair fight?”

Keith tripped over his tongue, struggling to find an answer, and something in Shiro’s smile left him cold. He never got his chance to speak. Shiro lunged at him, a whirlwind dancing around him. It moved like it was part of his body, and when it crashed down on Keith, there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Keith groaned, clumsily dusting himself off, and a pair of shoes poked into his vision. When he looked up, Shiro was there, his arm extended. Keith had the good grace to look sheepish, but he let Shiro pull him to his feet.

Around them, the world had finally calmed, and when Shiro helped him straighten his shirt, Keith yielded. “I didn’t mean…” Keith mumbled, only to cut himself off. “It’s just difficult. I’m holding myself back.”

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself… You’ve been hurt. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to recover.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. He wondered if Shiro had ever taken a day off in his life. He was always doing something around the temple. Who had work in the middle of the night anyway? “I can’t. I’m wasting time. Every passing minute, Lotor moves closer and I- I just can’t let that happen.”

“Just like you can’t airbend. Like you can’t fight with an injured arm. Like you can’t do  _anything_ , right?” Shiro wasn’t cruel, but his take down was unflinching and Keith had to look away. “Just like I can’t.”

Keith wrenched his gaze back, immediately apologetic. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Isn’t it?” Shiro held out his left arm and flexed his hand, the other sleeve empty. “Do you know how many times I heard the same thing? They were trying to help, but a one-armed airbender didn’t have a chance. I heard it so many times that I believed it. I left the monks, I turned my back on everything I was and I let myself fail.” He whirled his hand in a circle until a ball of wind formed in his open palm.

“Shiro, I-”

“I wanted this, Avatar. I fought for it because I loved it, and I had to believe in myself when no one else did. I adapted and I found a way to bend.” Shiro said calmly and Keith felt his cheeks burn with shame. He hadn’t meant to offend, his own angry words getting away from him. As skilled as he was, he’d gotten his ass handed to him and never wanted to question Shiro’s skill. His own inadequacies and complaints seemed shallow in comparison.

“I’m sorry.”

A heavy hand clasped Keith’s shoulder, startling him into looking up into Shiro’s dark eyes as the older man smiled. “What do you want, Keith?”

He opened his mouth to answer and found he had no voice. No one had ever asked him that question before.

“I want to stop letting everyone down.”

It was a tired, hopeless sort of confession. Keith startled as Shiro pulled him closer, and tucked him under his chin in a tight embrace. It took Keith a moment to realize what was happening, and then he melted, curling into Shiro with a tired sigh, his eyes falling shut.

“You can be your own worst enemy,” Shiro murmured. “Don’t worry too much, Avatar. You already do so much. The people who care to notice already have.”

It was nice to hear. Less so after Shiro landed him on his back so hard that Keith saw stars. They sparred until orange and pink spread across the horizon, the stars giving way to the bright dawn sun. They both collapsed, curled towards each other so they could touch, and laughing for the sheer joy of it. Keith couldn’t remember ever being so happy in his life.

And for a moment, it made him feel like the wind could lift him up and let him fly.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find Dans [here.](http://itdans.tumblr.com/)  
> Rune's tumblr is [here](http://runicscribbles.tumblr.com/) and our joint twitter is [here.](http://twitter.com/runicscribbles)
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed! Come say hello. :)


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